Breaking the Cycle
by The Captain Carrot
Summary: An AU where the surface is essentially a dystopia: Sans knew there hadn't been an anomaly in the timespace continuum for a long time, but when two humans fall into the underground with stories of a great evil on the surface, Sans thinks it's safe to say things aren't going to be like they used to anymore.
1. Chapter 1

Danny was shaken awake by the small hands of the Mapmaker.

"They're coming for us." The child whispered urgently in her ear as she blearily opened her eyes, "Get up now."

Danny pushed herself up from the cold stone floor as quietly as she could, her breathing becoming quick and panicked as she fumbled around in the dark to try and find her belongings.

"There's no time Danny, we have to leave!" She heard June's voice hiss from somewhere down the pitch black corridor. She stumbled after the voice, her heart pounding in her ears. This was a part of The Academy she'd never been in before, but June had lived in this darkness for years. It was their job to know it by heart.

Her hand finally found June's shoulder and she clung on tight, following them through twists and bends in the seemingly endless hallway.

Danny began hearing footsteps- the clack of cold metal soles against the dusty flagstone. June froze with terror before turning towards Danny and pushing past her, leading them in the opposite direction.

Danny kept her grip on the child's shoulder and tried her best to stop herself from breathing or walking too loudly. As the two children practically sprinted in the opposite direction, the footsteps grew louder and louder- like a frenzied drum. They echoed in all directions and seemed to swirl around the two- trapping them.

Under Danny's hand, she could feel the Mapmaker shudder and gasp with horror. They stopped in their tracks, unable to tell which way to go.

Danny reached down for the younger child's hand and squeezed it before tugging June in a random direction. They followed her like a rag doll, not protesting as she pulled them blindly into the belly of the ancient academy. Danny did her best to ignore the footsteps.

 _It's just another mind trick. Don't let her get to you._

Danny started to run, one hand in front of her to try and stop herself from crashing into any walls, the other gripping June's.

Danny ran.

She ran right into the huge pit that was in the middle of the floor.


	2. Chapter 2

...Outside of the Ruins. They must have fallen from above..."

"...Humans? But it's been ages..."

"...Undyne will know what to do..."

Distorted murmurs crawled through Danny's pounding ears as she felt herself starting to regain consciousness. She was in somebody's arms... being carried somewhere. Every step the person took sent pain shooting through her body.

"Grillby! I've found humans! Can you clear the tables in the back?" The nasal voice was very close to her ear and her stiff face muscles flinched slightly as the loud sound grated against her sensitive ear.

Danny slowly forced her eyes open, squinting up at the face that the voice belonged to. For some reason, the thin face of the skeleton didn't shock her terribly. She felt as though she were in some sort of bad dream as the skeleton laid her down onto the hard table.

Then he noticed she was somewhat awake, "Oh!" He exclaimed. Somehow, his skull perfectly expressed surprise as he stared at her.

"Is... June ok?" She asked, her words slurring slightly.

"The other human child is perfectly fine! Thanks to me, the Great Papyrus, both of you are going to be fine!" The skeleton seemed very proud, even looking off into an imaginary sunset to add to the dramatic effect.

The whole grandeur of the situation was lost on Danny as she felt her exhausted body slip back into the depths of unconsciousness.

XXXX

Papyrus and Grillby were boiling a large pot of spaghetti for the new humans and all of the patrons when Sans finally arrived.

Sans didn't greet Papyrus or Grillby when he entered the kitchen, so the two didn't notice the short skeleton at first. He walked over to where the two children were lying and stopped. They didn't look like Frisk. Sans couldn't quite put words to it, but something about the two children didn't seem entirely human. Whatever they were, Sans wasn't too thrilled about them being here. It had been too long since the kid had respawned, and if other humans were falling down, that meant that something in the cycle had broken. Maybe the kid couldn't respawn. Maybe they were gone for good. What did that mean for monsters?

Sans stared at the younger of the two humans. The child was dark skinned with huge, dirty curls of black hair framing their face. They didn't look like Frisk at all.

"Sans! You're late again!" Papyrus exclaimed when he saw his brother.

"Sorry bout that Pap, I had to make sure none of my socks were organized."

"Sans.." Papyrus groaned, "Now is not the time! We have two _humans_ on our hands here!"

"I noticed..." Sans said, his tone turning a little colder as he glanced back at the table.

"Undyne will be here soon to bring them to Asgore! We'll only need one, but I couldn't decide which one we should send over."

The smaller child groaned.

"Oh! Oh!" Papyrus dropped the wooden spoon he was holding to stir the spaghetti and rushed over to the table, nearly tripping in the process, "The human child is awake! Everybody be calm!" Papyrus practically shouted with excitement, leaning over the human.

Sans walked over to Papyrus with Grillby to watch as the child opened their wide eyes.

"Where am I?" They mumbled, looking between the monsters with fear, "Where's Wandare?"

"You're in the Underground! I am the Great Papyrus, this is my brother Sans, and this is Grillby! You are our prisoners!" Papyrus said proudly, puffing out his chest and gesturing to the other monsters by his side.

"Is Wandare your friend that fell with you?" Sans asked curiously.

The child looked at Sans with huge, surprised eyes, "What? Oh no, that's Danny!"

"Oh right, how could I forget?" Sans said a little dryly.

The kid frowned with confusion, "Do you... know her?"

"Oh yeah. Danny and I go way back. We play poker every Tuesday night over in the ruins."

The kid's hair bounced as they looked at Sans with shock, "What? Really?"

"Of course not! Are you real?" Sans snorted, "That wasn't even my best stuff!"

The kid stared at Sans with utter confusion.

"God you've been seriously repressed kiddo." Sans said with awe in his voice.

"Sans!" Papyrus barked, "Don't call our prisoner repressed! Just because the human has a better sense of humor than you-"

"Forget it. Who's that Wandare character you were talking about?" Sans pressed, leaving Papyrus seething.

The kid frowned, "I- you don't know who Wandare is?"

"I feel like if someone asks you who somebody is, they probably don't know who that person is." Sans said, his eyes glittering with amusement.

The kid fell silent, their eyes dropping to their lap as if they were trying to process something monumental.

" _I'm_ going to help Grillby serve the spaghetti and do something useful! Don't worry child, I won't be gone for long!" Papyrus said, clapping the kid on the back before giving Sans a pointed look walking over to the stove where Grillby was loading steaming piles of noodles on plates.

Sans looked back to the kid, "Must have slipped my memory, but what's your name kid?"

"I'm June." They muttered, curling their hands in their lap, "I'm the mapmaker for the Academy."

"The what now?" Sans pulled himself onto the table to sit next to June. Frisk had never mentioned an academy on the surface.

"The mapmaker. I go and write down-"

"I know what a mapmaker is kid, I'm talking about that school you just mentioned."

June gave Sans that same shocked look, "How do you not know what the Academy is? It covers about a 4th of this continent!"

Sans frowned, his sockets going dark. How much time had passed since their world had been reset? How much of the earth had changed? What the hell was this kid talking about?

"How did you get here?" He finally asked, his voice dangerously quiet.

"We were on the run..." June started, glancing at the sleeping girl with worry, "Wandare, the headmistress, found out we were trying to rescue a friend of ours and escape. She sent people to get rid of us before we could save our friend, and we were running away from them when we fell down this pit..."

"Here!" Papyrus shoved a plate of spaghetti at June, who grasped the plate with slight bewilderment. "I cooked the noodles and Grillby made the sauce. Well actually- Grillby cooked the noodles too, but under my guidance! I make a really spaghetti by the way, but Grillby insisted, so I let him to try his hand at it!"

Sans gritted his teeth slightly as he watched June grin and thank his brother. He really just wanted to grab the kid and interrogate them, but that'd have to wait. He still didn't know what was going on exactly, and the best course of action would probably be to lay low.

Papyrus beamed at June's gratitude before shaking the girl, rather violently, until she groaned and sat up. Sans noted that the girl had numerous bruises dotting her reddish-brown skin. He bet she'd been the one to take the brunt of the fall, judging from how stiff and beat up she was.

"I've made you some spaghetti human!" Papyrus announced, handing her a full plate. She frowned a little before taking it from him, "Thanks." She said. Her voice was slightly raspy.

"You're Danny huh?" Sans piped up, twisting so he could get a better look at the ragged kid. Her clothes were covered in some pretty disgusting stains and were ripped. Sans could spot the dark color of old bandages stained with blood and dirt under some of the shirt tears.

"...Yeah." Danny said, glancing at her happy companion who was eating the spaghetti like it was the first meal they'd had in a week. She seemed to relax a little at the sight of June happy and safe, and turned back to the skeleton.

"Who're you?"

"The name's Sans. This is my brother, Papyrus, and that over there is Grillby, the owner of this fine establishment." Sans said, keeping his tone light and casual.

She nodded slowly, her eyes curious and taking in everything, "Why are you..." She paused, as if afraid to finish the sentence, and resorted to gesturing at Sans' body.

Sans tilted his head a little, "I've been meaning to lose some weight, but I still weigh a _skele_ ton." He said, grinning as Papyrus shot him a death glare and muttered something under his breath.

June giggled through a mouthful of noodles and Danny smiled weakly, though she still looked very confused.

"Don't worry about it kiddo, we're just all sort of different down here." Sans reassured her.

"Yeah! To us, you are very strange yourself human!" Papyrus piped up, nodding to Danny.

Danny frowned. It was obvious she still had questions, but at that moment, the patrons in the front of Grillby's started cheering.

"Where are they?" Sans heard Undyne's gravelly voice and glanced at Danny and June. Poor kids, they had no idea what was going to happen.

The door burst open and the captain of the royal guard marched through, her eyes ablaze with triumph.

"Humans!" She shouted, pointing her spear mightily at the children. June and Danny looked pretty petrified.

"Undyne!" Papyrus looked at the blue warrior with admiration and respect.

"Papyrus! Good job on capturing the humans!" Undyne yelled, clapping Papyrus so hard on the back that the lanky skeleton all but fell over.

"Capturing...?" Danny looked at the monsters and then at June with some fear.

June glanced at her sheepishly, "Papyrus mentioned that, but I honestly thought he was kidding..."

Undyne swiveled to the two of them, "You! And you!" Both of her arms shot out as she pointed at both of the children, "Are coming with me to Asgore!"

"Who's Asgore?" Danny looked very upset. Her shoulders were tense and her hand was clutching June's. June looked a bit calmer- the child seemed to have a more mature aura around them.

"Undyne." Sans cleared his throat, "Could I talk to you for a quick sec? Outside?"

Undyne gave him a fishy look before rolling her eye, "Fine." She stormed out of Grillby's backroom, and Sans followed, ignoring Papyrus' curious eyes on his back.

"So what is it?" She asked, crossing her arms as Sans stepped out into the snow with her.

Sans paused. How was he supposed to tell her without giving it all away?

"Sans! What is it?"

"I want to come along with you and the humans." Sans said finally, "Y'know, for the practice. How am I ever supposed to get into the royal guard otherwise?" He gave her a wink.

Undyne's eye narrowed as she studied him, "You? Doing extra work?"

"Listen, if I had one, I'd say I had a change of heart. Papyrus only found those humans because I didn't show up for work and he was taking over for me-"

"Why am I not surprised?" Undyne growled and rolled her eye.

"-I realized how much opportunities I could be missing by slacking off. I feel like a whole new skeleton. Really Undyne, I feel like I've been _bone_ again!"

Undyne gritted her teeth and scowled, "Did you just bring me out here so you could make that awful joke?"

"Nah, I actually want to help you bring the kids to Asgore. The joke was just a _bone_ us."

"Fine!" Undyne shouted, tossing her hands in the air, "You can come! Just don't make anymore god awful jokes like that again!"

"I'll try to restrain myself, but it's hard when you're so _humerus._ " Sans said, grinning as Undyne clenched her fists.

"I swear if Papyrus didn't like you so much Sans..." She shook her head before stomping back inside.

Sans watched as she slammed the door to Grillby's and heaved a sigh of relief. Even though he wasn't sure if these humans were good news, Sans had to admit it was refreshing to finally have a human enter the Underground that didn't know more than he did. He'd go along with Undyne and figure out what these humans knew. Something told him that their world was much more different then the one the first child came from.


	3. Chapter 3

Wandare watched as the figure lurched out of the maggot-ridden water, her hair dangling like rotting seaweed in front of her ghastly face.

The woman was naked, but didn't seem in any way embarrassed or ashamed. Her movements were like a beast's as she walked towards the Headmistress of the Academy.

"Texie." Wandare's voice was as smooth and cold as the marble beneath her feet.

The woman froze when she heard her own name, her head tilting and her glistening eyes meeting Wandare's.

"I have a job for you. Do you remember Danny?"

Texie gasped, doubling over in pain at the girl's name. One of her dirty hands rose shakily to touch her head, as if to try and draw memories forward.

Wandare smirked with disdain, it was always interesting to see creatures like Texie remember what once made them human, "Your old girlfriend yes? She's been very naughty Texie. She ran away from me. I want her and her little friend back."

"Where?" Texie snarled, her voice was rougher than sandpaper.

"I'll show you where she fell. But first," Wandare narrowed her eyes at the monstrosity in front of her, "We'll make you a little more presentable."

XXXX

"What is this place?" June asked. Sans knew the kid mentioned that they were a mapmaker, but he honestly hadn't expected the kid to be this... dedicated. June already had a whole rough sketch from Grillby's to the waterfall. It was actually pretty decent looking too.

"This is Undyne's house." Sans said. June nodded and started scribbling on their map.

"Oh that makes a lot more sense. I thought she was just trying breaking into a strangers house." Danny said, watching as the warrior kicked at the door and cursed.

The three watched in silence for a second as Undyne continued to kick the door until it began to splinter inwards, screaming with rage.

"Do you guys... have keys down here?" Danny asked, frowning as Undyne pulled out her spear and began wildly stabbing the door.

Sans chuckled, "Oh we do. I think Undyne's just letting out some pent up rage. Ya see, Asgore requested that Undyne not kill either of you, and she's pretty frustrated about that."

"Wow. I think I'm starting to like this Asgore guy more and more." Danny said as she watched the door being pulverized. She couldn't help but think about how screwed she'd be if that door was her.

Sans didn't say anything at first. " _You won't like him pretty soon_ " was what he thought. He didn't want either of these kids to die. It probably wouldn't be June. They were a few years younger than Danny, and Asgore always had a soft spot for the younger ones. Danny was practically an adult, so she'd probably be the one to go. Finally, Sans cleared his throat, "Yeah, well, he wants what's best for all of us."

Danny nodded, "Seems like he's been doing a good job so far. I mean, this place seems pretty isolated."

Sans glanced up at her, "That's not necessarily a good thing. We've been trapped here for a long time. He's trying to fix that."

June snorted, "I'd rather be trapped down here than be exposed to what's up there."

"Yeah? And what's 'up there' exactly?" Sans asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

June glanced at Danny, who bit her lip, "Well the Academy... is awful. It's not really a school, it's just a place they send people to tame them. They break your spirit there and make you feel empty. And if you're really bad, they use you for their experiments."

"I went there because my village is right outside of the Academy and everybody was starving." June said, "Nothing grows outside of the Academy, the world is too polluted. The rivers are filled with corpses and all sorts of vile waste. The only way to survive on the surface is to work for them. So I became the mapmaker."

Sans paused, taking this in. If these kids were telling the truth, then they should wait before they delivered the humans to Asgore.

"Ok let's go!" Undyne shouted, as she stormed back, fully outfitted in her armor and her door completely demolished.

June quietly took Danny's hand before they started following Undyne farther down the riverbank. Sans was the caboose of the little party, mulling over what the humans had told him.

XXXX

Texie's fingers rolled over the seams of her old leather jacket. It was the first time she had worn clothes for months. She almost felt human again, even as she stood on the edge of the seemingly endless pit, her entire body reeking of death.

"This is where they fell. You will retrieve them." Wandare said coldly.

There was no resistance in Texie's mind. All human fears of falling to her death were replaced with a burning desire to catch Danny- to hold her again and make her scream.

It was all Danny's fault, and Texie intended on wringing out every ounce of spirit left in her until the timid girl was hers forever.

Texie jumped over the ledge, plummeting into the unknown, her murderous thoughts laced with lust.

( **Any feedback is welcomed here! You can even suggest what you think should happen next. Who knows, I may even include it- no guarantees though! :P)**


	4. Chapter 4

Progress for the party that day had been slow to say the least. Both Danny and June needed extra stops due to their injuries from falling down, and when the two humans weren't asking constant questions, they were always trying to wander off and explore.

Personally, Sans was perfectly fine with letting the humans enjoy the underground for a while. Earlier that day, he'd helped June catch a frog. Well, he didn't help in the sense that he actually chased the frog, but he did shout words of encouragement to the kid and helped them name the frog Fartboy (The frog's croak did admittedly sound like a fart). June had thought it was hilarious and kept shoving the poor frog in Danny's face to show her.

Sans glanced at the sleeping child fondly. They were using their dirty sweater as a pillow and in their warm hands, Fartboy looked almost relaxed.

Danny was curled up farther away with her back to the little fire, her chest rising and falling peacefully. Even in the dull warm glow of the firelight, Sans could tell the girl's back was dotted with burns and scars. At the base of her neck, there was even a white "T" that had been branded into her skin forever. Sans wondered if June had the same sort of scars under their many layers of clothes, or if Danny was one of those people used for experimentation at the Academy.

When Undyne was around, the girl hardly spoke. She actually seemed very eager to please the soldier- though it was also obvious she was intimidated by her.

Undyne stared into the jumping flames, her expression grim.

"I can take the kids from Hotland to Asgore. I know it's not your favorite place." Sans said casually, leaning forward on his log so the hotdog he was roasting could get even more charred.

Undyne's scowl deepened as she continued to stare into the fire, "Will you be able to do it though Sans? You know what's going to have to happen to them when they get there."

Sans pushed the hotdog farther into the fire, "What? You think I'm going soft or something? Think I don't want to help break the barrier?"

Undyne glanced warily at the two sleeping children before meeting Sans' eyes with a scowl, "If you're not getting soft, then why are you being so kind to them? Why are you acting like you're their friend?"

"I'll do what I have to when the time comes. I might as well try to make their last days happy, ya know?" Sans said shortly, watching as the black hotdog slipped off the stick and into the fire.

"When they die it's going to hurt you more. Even if Asgore doesn't do it, some other monster will. You're just making yourself vulnerable by being kind." Undyne growled, staring at the fire. Sans was a little surprised at the tone in her voice. In her own way, it almost seemed like she was concerned for him.

"Ah it'll be ok. What's a little more death? They all fade eventually right?" Sans said lightly before standing up and giving Undyne a smile.

"Are you headed to bed?" Undyne asked, watching him.

"I was thinking I'd take first shift. I'll wake you up later."

Undyne shrugged, "Sounds good to me. It's not like you or your brother actually _need_ sleep."

"Doesn't mean I can't enjoy some beauty rest once and awhile." Sans said, shrugging.

Undyne grumbled something incomprehensible under her breath before getting comfortable and closing her eyes.

As Undyne drifted off, Sans was alone with his thoughts.

XXXX

Danny forced herself to keep her breathing steady as she listened to the monsters' conversation. She needed to get herself and June away. After a while, she stopped hearing Sans rustling around and scratching at the ground with a stick. When Sans started snoring, Danny finally rolled over quietly and got to her feet. Sure enough, the skeleton was sound asleep, leaning against an old rotting log. He had sketched out some sort of math equation into the ground, along with a diagram, but Danny was too upset to pay attention.

As she looked at the skeleton, she felt a sharp pain of betrayal. It had been the first time she'd been with adults that didn't seem cruel for years. Sans with his stupid jokes and frog names, Undyne with her powerful voice and leadership, and Papyrus with his spaghetti and fancy title. She hadn't thought any of them were horrible, but did they all know she'd be killed?

When they had first fell down, it almost felt like these people could be like a family...

But what sort of family makes you feel loved and then sacrifices you?

Danny bit her lip and quickly pushed those thoughts out of her mind before putting a hand on June's mouth and shaking them awake.

"We have to leave now June. Be quiet." She whispered in the child's ear.

The child tensed up before nodding slightly. She removed her hand from their mouth and helped June to their feet.

The two humans joined hands before quickly slipping through the thick reeds.

And then, they were gone. Dissolved into the night.

 **AN: Thank you for the feedback so far, it's been very helpful! This chapter was a little shorter, but the next one should be quite lengthy and action packed. Any feedback or questions you have are appreciated. Thank you!**


	5. Chapter 5

_June!_

Sans kept walking through the water, ignoring the echo flower. He'd long since stopped trying to keep his shorts dry, and now they clung to his bones as he waded through the cold water.

Undyne had shaken Sans awake that morning, her shouts were a mixture of anger and panic.

 _June where did you go?_

Danny's voice was raspy through the echo flower. It must have been sore from yelling so much. It's a wonder a monster hadn't found her with all the comotion she was making. Sans had been following the trail of echo flowers for about half an hour. Somehow, it seemed Danny and June had managed to get separated when they were trying to run away from Sans and Undyne. Before Danny started calling out for June, and by extension imprinting her voice on the flowers, Sans and Undyne had more or less been guessing about where the kids went. The only footprints they could find led straight to the river.

When Sans reached the next flower, the only sound was Danny's loud sobbing. It sounded almost like she was hyperventilating with the quick breaths and choked cries.

Sans kept moving forward. He didn't like listening to kids crying. Well, neither did most people.

The next echo flower held only silence, and so did the next.

Sans sighed and paused, thinking. Maybe he should go back and check to see if Danny had gotten out of the water after she finished having a breakdown. Or maybe if he listened to the entire recording, there'd be some other clue to her whereabouts.

Sans turned around and made his way back to the crying echo flower. This time, as he listened to the recording of Danny crying, he inspected the muddy banks for any sort of footprints. He didn't find any footprints, but he did find a bunch of crushed reeds and grass on the bank next to the echo flower. Probably where Danny was crying. Sans sat next to the spot where the human was crying and listened as the crying slowly subdued.

 _...Wait._

Her voice was confused and scared.

 _Who... What are yo-_

The recording stopped and the echo flower began crying again.

Sans frowned and got to his feet. What did Danny see? Maybe another monster had found her.

Sans inspected the ground around the trampled reeds until he spotted a hole a few feet away- as if something had popped out of it. As he gazed farther along the bank, he cursed. There in the mud were the faint prints of a human's feet. Sans scrambled to his feet and examined the first footprint. It was almost completely washed away by the gentle lapping water, but Sans could still tell that it was the footprint of somebody who had been running quickly.

After a while of following the footprints, the echo flowers began talking again with Danny's voice.

 _June! Oh my god.. Oh my god..._

Sans could see the imprint in the mud where June must have been lying when Danny found them.

The skeleton kept walking. Danny's footprints were still the only ones he saw. She must have been carrying June.

 _This is all my fault June I'm so sorry._

 _June? Are you trying to talk?_

Sans couldn't make out what June was saying as he continued to walk through the echo flowers.

 _Something hurt you? What was it?_

 _A yellow flower? That's strange... I just saw- What? A flower can't attack you._

Sans paused. For some reason... all of this was familiar to Sans. Sans couldn't remember, but he could swear hearing someone talk about a yellow flower like this before. Sans frowned, maybe Papyrus had mentioned something?

This was the last echo flower that Sans could see. The footsteps kept going off into the dark, so Sans followed, letting his eye light up to guide him.

XXXX

Undyne had gone back to Snowdin and let Sans explore the waterfall and Hotland. They had both decided that there was a better chance of the kids backtracking through Snowdin to try to escape, and that Undyne would be better at catching them.

"I don't sleep on the damned job Sans!" Undyne had yelled at Sans before storming off. She was still livid. She had _trusted_ Sans. She should've brought Papyrus. He might be... a little fanciful at times, but at least he took his job seriously!

Undyne could sense something was wrong as soon as she returned to Snowdin. The town was eerily deserted. The only person out was Papyrus, marching around on what appeared to be his rounds.

"Undyne!" Papyrus shouted with surprise when he saw her, and immediately began running over to her, still shouting as he went "I'm guarding just like you told me to! Did you come back to help me with the new human?"

"What are you talking about?" Undyne yelled back, grabbing the skeleton's shoulders, a glare of confusion scrawled across her face.

"There's another human! Apparently she's been killing all sorts of innocent monsters. That's why I told everybody to get indoors and prepare for evacuation!" Papyrus said, a more serious expression coming over the tall skeleton.

Undyne blinked with disbelief. Humans hardly ever fell down... Three in two days was unheard of.

"Where was she last seen?" Undyne finally asked, her scowl deepening.

"People saw her coming out of the ruins towards Snowdin. She only has a metal pipe though, so you and I should be able to take a villain like her just fine!" Papyrus said. Undyne could hear the confidence in his voice, but mixed into that was fear. This human was a murderer.

"No. I need you to lead the evacuation Papyrus." Undyne snapped, "Get the people to Alphys' lab first and then make sure you get word to Asgore. He needs to know. If you can do it safely, get them to the Capital. There's more room there."

Papyrus looked like he was going to protest, but Undyne gave him a serious glare, "Listen Papyrus. This is a job I'd only trust with the best of the best. Protecting these people is my job and I'm handing that responsibility over to you temporarily. Can I trust you Papyrus?"

Papyrus stiffened and nodded his head gravely, "I will do everything I can for the people and for you Undyne." He promised, his eyes filled with pride and respect.

Undyne clapped him on the back before lowering her visor and walking towards the outskirts of Snowdin.

That's where she saw it.

The human.

She had this dead expression on her face like an eel, her teeth were sharpened and yellow. In her bloody hand was gripping a large twisted metal pipe. Her shoulders were hunched and she lurched in the way a hand searches for a dagger in the dark. Her hair was matted and even from such a distance, Undyne could smell rotting flesh and mold radiating off the human in waves.

Undyne gagged involuntarily at the disgusting creature standing before her, but quickly recovered and gracefully drew her spear, watching her opponent closely for a sign of attack.

The woman lunged forward with an unearthly scream, her face twisted with a desperation and her eyes wide with something wild. Undyne didn't let this faze her and she jabbed upwards with her spear, grazing the woman's right side.

The woman shrieked again, except this time out of fury and swung the pipe at Unyne's head. Undyne blocked effortlessly, sending her stumbling. The human obviously wasn't skilled with this sort of combat, but Undyne could still see a terrifying hatred burning within those mad eyes. She would be a relentless opponent, even if her movements were sloppy.

As Undyne prepared to jab her again, the woman swung the pipe down, forcing Undyne to raise her spear in defense. The sheer force of the blow jarred her a little, but she quickly recovered and twisted to the side and thrust her spear forward. The human was not so easy to hit this time, ducking the blow and launching her body at Undyne.

Undyne tumbled backwards and fell down as the human crashed into her. Immediately, she felt the disgusting human straddle her chest and kick away her spear. Undyne almost managed to throw the human off balance enough to topple her, but the woman grabbed Undyne's head and began slamming it down with such a great force that Undyne quickly began to stop resisting.

"There we go." The woman whispered in a sick and slimy voice. She quickly undid the latches to Undyne's helmet and pulled it off.

Undyne glared up at the revolting human, blinking as her eye struggled to focus. Her eyes were dark and more like a rabid animal then anything else. Her face was waxy and the skin was stretched with shadows draping her eye sockets and cheekbones. She looked almost disappointed at what she saw under Undyne's helmet. Then, a look of hunger and lust washed over her gaunt face.

"H-how'd you lose this one?" Her clammy hand cupped Undyne's scaly cheek, her coarse thumb rubbing the monster's eye patch.

Undyne could barely hear the woman through the pounding pain in her head.

"Would you..." The creature's voice was whispery and aroused, as if she were asking a favor from a lover, "Would you be ok if I took the other one?"

Her thumb started circling Undyne's good eye, making the circles smaller and smaller until she was practically rubbing Undyne's eyelid. Her breathing was shaky and Undyne could feel every rotting breath hot against her face.

"No!" Undyne managed to moan through the pain, jerking her head to the side.

The human's face twisted as her expression turned sour and the thumb on Undyne's face dug into the soft flesh under the eye.

Undyne screamed with anger and pain, struggling once more. This time, instead of slamming her head into the ground, the human brought the pointed end of the twisted metal pipe down onto Undyne's body.

Undyne screamed again, writhing with pain and trying to twist away out of the human's grip. Her armor protected her from the metal puncturing her, but under the force of the steel, she felt a sharp pain in her ribs and an unpleasant crack.

The woman's lips descended on her hungrily, biting her lips and her neck as if she were trying to remember how to kiss, but could only think of devouring Undyne.

In the woman's frenzy, Undyne managed to pull an arm loose. Her metal clad hand came crashing into the woman's temple and sent her sprawling. Undyne quickly staggered to her feet, grabbing her spear and trying not to lean too much on it as she felt the whole world spin on its axis and her ribs scream with pain.

The woman climbed to her feet, dazed and furious before giving Undyne a look of pure hatred.

"If you give me the other humans, nobody else will die." She said, grinning. Undyne scowled,

"I'm the protector of the Underground. You're going to have to get past me first."

The human snickered mockingly before turning and running off into the dark woods. Undyne considered throwing her spear, but she was too injured and tired for that to be effective. The only thing she could hope for at this point was that Papyrus hadn't finished evacuating yet and could help her.

XXXX

When Sans finally found the two children, it was because he heard Danny crying.

In the dark, he could just make out Danny's hunched figures amongst the tall reeds.

He advanced quietly, until he was just outside the circle of reeds Danny was crying behind.

"Why the long face kiddo?" He finally asked.

The sobbing stopped and Sans let the blue fire burn in his hand so Danny could see him and he could see her. Her green hair was matted and hanging in strings across her face, and her eyes were full of mistrust and anger.

Next to her, Sans could just make out the body of June. Her hand was on the child protectively.

"Kill me." Danny whispered, her voice full of rage.

"Huh?" Sans was taken aback. She seemed almost challenging of him.

"I heard you last night. With Undyne. So do it. Just get it over with." Danny spat, her eyes full of disgust and hurt.

"Listen kiddo..." Sans said before groaning, "That's not..."

"I'm tired of being a toy for people. At the Academy they sold me their propaganda for years and they made me think I would have a bright future. And you wanted to be my friend because it made you feel like some sort of philanthropist? Because you got to feel good about yourself before throwing us into the slaughterhouse!" Her hoarse voice was rising to a scream, and at the last word, her voice broke as a sob escaped her.

"Danny!" Sans raised both hands defensively, taking a step back, "Calm down kid! That's what Undyne wanted to hear from me. She _hates_ humans because they imprisoned us here. When June told me about the Academy, I knew we needed to learn more about the surface... I'm here to talk."

Danny looked at him distrustfully, tears still streaming down her cheeks. She said nothing.

"Is June ok?" Sans glanced at the unmoving body of the child with worry.

Danny seemed to crumble at this, her face collapsing. She buried her face in her hands and her body curled up as sobs shook her entire body.

Sans took this as an invitation to come forward. Under the blue glow of the skeleton's hand, the child seemed corpse-like. However, when Sans pressed his thumb into the child's wrist, he could still feel a faint pulse.

"What's wrong with them?" Sans asked, glancing over at the distraught girl.

Danny's voice was muffled as she continued to bury her face in her arms, "They said some flower attacked them and poisoned them. But when I found them, they were already delirious and barely conscious."

Sans stared down at the child. Their heartbeat was dangerously faint and their breathing was incredibly shallow. At this rate, Sans wouldn't give them more than a few hours.

"I know a person who might have something to help the kid." Sans said. Danny didn't move, "Hey, Danny! Listen, I need your help. I can't carry this kid all by myself now can I?" Sans put a hand on the girl's shoulder, forcing her back into the present.

"They're not dead yet Danny. You gotta help them." Sans said quietly. Danny nodded, climbing to her feet wearily and helping Sans pick up the child.


End file.
